Grubtrotters

New York vegetarians held a Veggie Pride Parade Sunday. They dressed in veggie costumes and carried signs such as “Give Peas a Chance.” Hard to believe Veggie Pride parades have been held in New York and Paris, but not in Los Angeles. I have to think there are more vegetarians in Topanga Canyon alone than in all of Paris. Perhaps Angeleno vegetarians are more secure in their food choices and don’t feel they need a parade. Of course, if your image of a vegetarian is of a peace-loving hippie or a yogi, consider New York’s version, pictured above and quoted below from The New York Times:

Also in attendance was Bernard Goetz, who embraced vegetarianism around 20 years ago, after he became known as a vigilante for shooting four youths he believed were intent on robbing him on a Seventh Avenue express train in 1984. Mr. Goetz said he lamented people’s “distant, shallow and bad” attitudes toward animals. “The world is a deader place because of mankind’s relationship with animals,” he said.

The Chicago hot dog, of course, includes no ketchup.

This point was underscored again in the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine, which includes a feature titled “Plates of the Union.” The owner of the Wiener Circle, Barry Nemerow, offered three rules to ensure that a dog is a 100 percent genuine authentic Chicago classic. One was the no-ketchup policy. “It’s criminal to a Chicagoan,” he said.

Debate over the proper ingredients for a Chicago hot dog was the subject of a memorable Mike Royko column in 1995. Carol Moseley Braun, the U.S. senator from Illinois, contributed her version of a Chicago hot dog to a recipe book. Hers had ketchup in it. Royko brilliantly used the ketchup inclusion to illustrate how Moseley Braun, born and bred in Chicago, was out of touch with her constituency.

“This is the land of the free. And if someone wants to put ketchup on a hot dog and actually eat the awful thing, that is their right,” Royko wrote. “It is also their right to put mayo or chocolate syrup or toenail clippings or cat hair on a hot dog.

“Sure, it would be disgusting and perverted, and they would be shaming themselves and their loved ones. But under our system of government, it is their right to be barbarians.”

Here is a link to the full column; it is near the bottom of the page. –Victor.